Editing device, editing apparatus, and editing method for HDTV signal

ABSTRACT

An editing device including first and second decoders that decompress the compressed first and second high-definition television video data transferred by a computer; respectively, and edit processing unit for performing edit processing on the decompressed first high-definition television video data and the decompressed second high-definition television video data. A result of edit processing performed by the edit processing means is output. The compressed first high-definition television video data and the compressed second high-definition television video data are transferred in parallel from the computer to the first decoder and the second decoder, respectively.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an editing device for editing an HDTV(high-definition television) signal by using a computer and to anediting apparatus and an editing method, both of which using a computer,for an HDTV signal.

2. Description of the Related Art

At video-content production departments such as radio stations and postproduction facilities, content, such as TV programs, commercials, ormovies, is commonly produced by editing material, for example, videodata and audio data, with nonlinear editors.

As the nonlinear editors, computers (workstations and personalcomputers) on which editing application software is installed have beenconventionally used.

With such a nonlinear editor, material of a desired scene or the like istransferred from, for example, a VTR (video tape recorder) or a videocamera, in which material is recorded, and is stored in a storage deviceconnected to a computer or a hard disk built into the computer.

A computer having such editing application software performs editprocessing, such as applying a special effect to the loaded/storedmaterial and combining or connecting one piece of material with anotherto thereby produce video content (e.g., Japanese Unexamined PatentApplication Publication No., 2003-37806 (paragraph Nos. 0024 to 0033 andFIGS. 1 and 2)).

Examples of available computer-based nonlinear editors include a devicein which a dedicated PCI (peripheral component interconnect) card forperforming edit processing (e.g., special effect processing andcombining processing) is installed in a PCI slot and loaded/storedmaterial is transferred to the PCI card via the PCI bus so as to besubjected to edit processing.

In recent years, cases in which HDTV signals are edited have beenincreasing because of the widespread use of digital broadcasting.

An HDTV signal has fourth to fifth times the amount of information of anSDTV (standard-definition television) signal, and data for one frame ofthe HDTV signal may amount to about 4 megabytes.

When such an HDTV signal, which has a large amount of data, is to beedited with a nonlinear editor using a computer having a dedicated PCIcard, at most, only one piece of HDTV video data can be transferred at atime to the PCI card, because of a limited bandwidth of the PCI bus.Thus, a plurality of pieces of HDTV video data cannot be transferred inparallel.

When one piece of data (material) can only be transferred at a time asdescribed above, the PCI card cannot perform real-time edit processingfor combining or connecting one piece of material with another, even arelatively simple edit processing, such as A/B roll editing.

When a computer-based nonlinear editor is configured such that a CPU inthe computer renders an image to allow an HDTV signal to be edited,large amounts of CPU power and time are required. Thus, such a nonlineareditor still cannot edit an HDTV signal in real time.

When dedicated large hardware for edit processing is used in conjunctionwith a computer to perform edit processing, it is possible to edit anHDTV signal in real time. However, the use of such hardware leads to amore expensive and larger editing system.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the foregoing situations, an object of the present inventionis to allow an HDTV signal to be edited in real time without the use ofdedicated large hardware other than a computer.

To achieve the foregoing object, a first aspect of the present inventionprovides an editing device that is installed in a computer to edit anHDTV signal. The editing device includes a first decoder and a seconddecoder which decompress respective compressed HDTV video datatransferred from the computer, and an edit processing unit forperforming edit processing on the HDTV video data decompressed by thefirst decoder and the HDTV video data decompressed by the seconddecoder. A result of edit processing performed by the edit processingunit is output.

This editing device includes the first and second decoders whichdecompress respective compressed HDTV video data, and the HDTV videodata decompressed by these decoders are subjected to edit processing bythe edit processing unit and the result of edit processing is output.

Thus, in a computer in which this editing device is installed,compressed HDTV video data, rather than uncompressed HDTV video data,can be stored in a storage device or a built-in hard disk, and thecompressed HDTV video data can be transferred to the editing device.

Further, since compressed HDTV video data has a smaller amount of datathan uncompressed HDTV video data, two or more pieces of compressed HDTVvideo data can be transferred in parallel, even in a case in which onepiece of HDTV video data can only be transferred at a time due to alimited bandwidth of uncompressed HDTV video data.

Thus, two pieces of HDTV video data can be transferred in parallel fromthe computer to the editing device to allow for edit processing. As aresult, an HDTV signal can be edited in real time without the use ofdedicated large hardware other than the computer (i.e., withoutincreases in size and cost of the editing system).

Preferably, the edit processing unit includes an effector for applying aspecial effect to the HDTV video data decompressed by the first decoder,and a combining unit for combining the HDTV video data to which thespecial effect is applied by the effector and the HDTV video datadecompressed by the second decoder.

With this arrangement, edit processing involving aspecial-effect-applied scene change can be performed in real time.

Preferably, the editing device further includes an output connector forHDTV data. The result of edit processing performed by the editprocessing unit is output from the output connector.

With this arrangement, the result of edit processing can be checked inthe form of an HDTV image in real time, by displaying the result on anHDTV monitor connected to the output connector.

Preferably, the editing device further includes an encoder forcompressing the HDTV video data on which the edit processing isperformed by the edit processing mean. The HDTV video data compressed bythe encoder can be transferred to the computer.

With this arrangement, the result of edit processing can be stored, ascompressed HDTV video data, in a storage device connected to thecomputer or on a hard disk built into the computer.

Preferably, the editing device further includes a converting unit forconverting the HDTV video data on which the edit processing is performedby the edit processing unit into SDTV (standard-definition television)video data. The SDTV video data converted by the converting unit can betransferred to the computer.

With this arrangement, the result of edit processing can also be checkedin real time by displaying the result on a computer monitor connected tothe computer.

Preferably, the editing device further includes an input connector foruncompressed HDTV data, and selecting unit for selecting one of HDTVvideo data input from the input connector and the HDTV video datadecompressed by the first decoder and for supplying the selected HDTVdata to the edit processing unit. The edit processing unit performs editprocessing on the HDTV video data selected by the selecting unit and theHDTV video data decompressed by the second decoder.

With this arrangement, not only can compressed HDTV video data betransferred from the computer to the editing device but alsouncompressed HDTV video data can be directly input to the editing devicefrom an external unit so as to be subjected to edit processing.

Preferably, the editing device is constituted by at least one PCI(peripheral component interconnect) card.

Wit this arrangement, regardless of a limited bandwidth of the PCI bus,two pieces of HDTV video data can be transferred in parallel from thecomputer to the PCI cards so as to be subjected to edit processing.

Another aspect of the present invention provides an editing apparatusfor an HDTV signal. The editing apparatus includes a computer fortransferring compressed first HDTV video data and compressed second HDTVvideo data, and an editing device. The editing device includes first andsecond decoders that decompress the compressed first and second HDTVvideo data, respectively, and an edit processing unit for performingedit processing on the decompressed first HDTV video data and thedecompressed second HDTV video data. The result of edit processingperformed by the edit processing unit is output. The compressed firstHDTV video data and the compressed second HDTV video data aretransferred in parallel from the computer to the first decoder and thesecond decoder, respectively.

This editing apparatus includes the editing device according to thepresent invention and the computer, in which the editing device isinstalled, so that two pieces of compressed HDTV video data (the firstHDTV video data and the second HDTV video data) are transferred inparallel to the editing device. With this arrangement, as described forthe editing device according to the present invention, an HDTV videosignal can be edited in real time without the use of dedicated largehardware other than the computer.

Preferably, in the editing apparatus, the edit processing unit includesan effector for applying a special effect to the HDTV video datadecompressed by the first decoder, and a combining unit for combiningthe HDTV video data to which the special effect is applied by theeffector and the HDTV video data decompressed by the second decoder.

With this arrangement, edit processing involving aspecial-effect-applied scene change can be performed in real time.

Preferably, in the editing apparatus, the editing device furtherincludes an output connector for HDTV data, and the result of editprocessing performed by the edit processing unit is output from theoutput connector.

With this arrangement, the result of editing processing can be checkedin the form of an HDTV image in real time, by displaying the result onan HDTV monitor connected to the output connector.

Preferably, in the editing apparatus, the editing device furtherincludes an encoder for compressing the HDTV video data on which theedit processing is performed by the edit processing mean, the HDTV videodata compressed by the encoder being transferred to the computer.

With this arrangement, the result of editing processing can be stored,as compressed HDTV video data, in a storage device connected to thecomputer or on a hard disk built into the computer.

Preferably, in the editing apparatus, the editing device furtherincludes a converting unit for converting the HDTV video data on whichthe edit processing is performed by the edit processing unit into SDTVvideo data, and the SDTV video data converted by the converting unit istransferred to the computer.

With this arrangement, the result of edit processing can also be checkedin real time by displaying the result on a computer monitor connected tothe computer.

Preferably, in the editing apparatus, the editing device furtherincludes an input connector for uncompressed HDTV data, and a selectingunit for selecting one of HDTV data input from the input connector andthe HDTV video data decompressed by the first decoder and for supplyingthe selected HDTV data to the edit processing unit. Preferably, the editprocessing unit performs edit processing on the HDTV video data selectedby the selecting unit and the HDTV video data decompressed by the seconddecoder.

With this arrangement, not only can the compressed HDTV video data betransferred from the computer to the editing device but alsouncompressed HDTV video data can be directly input to the editing devicefrom an external unit so as to be subjected to edit processing.

Preferably, in the editing apparatus, the editing device is constitutedby at least one PCI card.

With this arrangement, regardless of a limited bandwidth of the PCI bus,two pieces of HDTV video data can be transferred in parallel from thecomputer to the PCI cards so as to be subjected to edit processing.

Additionally, still another aspect of the present invention provides anediting method for editing an HDTV signal using a computer. The editingmethod includes a transferring step of transferring compressed firstHDTV video data and compressed second HDTV video data in parallel fromthe computer to an editing device installed in the computer; and adecompressing step of decompressing, in the editing device, thecompressed first HDTV video data and the compressed second HDTV videodata which are transferred in the transferring step. The editing methodfurther includes an editing step of performing, in the editing device,edit processing on the first HDTV video data and the second HDTV videodata which are decompressed in the decompressing step; and an outputtingstep of outputting a result of edit processing performed in the editingstep from the editing device.

In this editing method, two pieces of compressed HDTV video data (thefirst HDTV video data and the second HDTV video data) are transferred inparallel from the computer to the editing device installed in thecomputer.

Further, in the editing devices, the transferred two pieces of HDTVvideo data are decompressed in parallel, the two pieces of decompressedHDTV video data are subjected to edit processing, and a result of editprocessing is output.

With this arrangement, an HDTV signal can be edited in real time withoutthe use of dedicated large hardware without the computer.

In the editing method, preferably, in the editing step, a special effectis applied to the first HDTV video data, and the first HDTV video datato which the special effect is applied and the second HDTV video dataare combined.

With this arrangement, edit processing involving aspecial-effect-applied scene change can be performed in real time.

In the editing method, preferably, in the outputting step, the result ofedit processing performed in the editing step is output from an HDTVsignal output-connector provided at the editing device.

With this arrangement, the result of editing processing can be checkedin the form of an HDTV image in real time, by displaying the result onan HDTV monitor connected to the output connector.

Preferably, the editing method further includes a compressing step ofcompressing, in the editing device, the HDTV video data on which theedit processing is performed in the editing step. In the outputtingstep, preferably, the HDTV video data compressed in the compressing stepis transferred to the computer.

With this arrangement, the result of editing processing can be stored,as compressed HDTV video data, in a storage device connected to thecomputer or on a hard disk built into the computer.

Preferably, the editing method further includes a converting step ofconverting, in the editing device, the HDTV video data on which the editprocessing is performed in the editing step into SDTV video data.Preferably, in the outputting step, the SDTV video data converted in theconverting step is transferred to the computer.

With this arrangement, the result of edit processing can also be checkedin real time by displaying the result on a computer monitor connected tothe computer.

Preferably, the editing method further includes a selecting step ofselecting, in the editing device, one of HDTV video data input from anuncompressed HDTV data input-connector provided at the editing deviceand the first HDTV video data decompressed in the decompressing step.Preferably, in the editing step, the HDTV video data selected in theselecting step and the second HDTV video data are subjected to editprocessing.

With this arrangement, not only can the compressed HDTV video data betransferred from the computer to the editing device but alsouncompressed HDTV video data can be directly input to the editing devicefrom an external unit so as to be subjected to edit processing.

In the editing method, preferably, the editing device is constituted byat least one PCI card.

With this arrangement, regardless of a limited bandwidth of the PCI bus,two pieces of HDTV video data can be transferred in parallel from thecomputer to the PCI cards so as to be subjected to edit processing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating the overall configuration of anediting system according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view illustrating the external configuration ofPCI cards installed in the workstation shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the circuit configuration of thePCI cards shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the circuit configuration of acontroller shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating the circuit configuration of aneffector shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a timing chart showing the flow of an overall edit processingoperation;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the flow of material in the PCI cardsduring the edit processing operation shown in FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a timing chart showing the flow of an overall edit processingoperation;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the flow of material in the PCI cardsduring the edit processing operation shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a timing chart showing the flow of an overall edit processingoperation; and

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the flow of material in the PCI cardsduring the edit processing operation shown in FIG. 10.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will be described below in detail with referenceto the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustratingthe overall configuration of an HDTV-signal editing system according tothe present invention. This editing system includes a workstation 1, astorage device 2, a keyboard 3, a mouse 4, VGA monitors 5 and 6, a VTR7, and an HDTV monitor 101.

Editing application software for capturing and editing material isinstalled on the workstation 1, and the workstation 1 is used as anonlinear editor.

An operation screen displayed by the editing application software hasoperation buttons for allowing loaded/stored material to be edited. Theoperation buttons include:

(a) a material selection button for selecting two materials to beedited, that is, material A to be subjected to a special effect andmaterial B to be combined with material A, from material stored in thestorage device 2;

(b) a special-effect selection button for selecting a type of specialeffect (e.g., as to a manner of causing a scene of material A todisappear, for example, in a page-turning manner, in a wave-like manner,or in an explosion-like manner) for material A and for setting an effectparameter for a selected special effect;

(c) an editing-result output selection button for selecting displaying aresult of edit processing on the HDTV monitor 101, writing the result tothe storage device 2, or displaying the result on the VGA monitor 5 or6.

The storage device 2 is, for example, a large-capacity solid-state disk,and is used as a peripheral storage device when the workstation 1 storesmaterial.

The keyboard 3 and the mouse 4 are input devices for the workstation 1and the VGA monitors 5 and 6 are output devices for the workstation 1,and these input/output devices are used to operate the workstation 1 toperform an editing task or to check a result of edit processing.

The VTR 7 is a model compliant with an HDCAM format (“HDCAM” is aregistered trademark) and is used for recording, in the HDCAM format,uncompressed HDTV data (material) supplied from an HDTV camera or thelike at a scene of coverage.

In the HDCAM format, an HDTV signal is compressed by a band-limitingtechnology or a bit-reduction technology to about one seventh of itsoriginal size. This allows a computer to transfer two pieces of HDTVvideo data, compressed in the HDCAM format, in parallel to PCI cards viaa PCI bus.

When the workstation 1 performs a storing operation, of recordedHDCAM-format HDTV, desired HDTV data is transferred from the VTR 7 andis stored in the storage device 2.

The HDTV monitor 101 is connected to a PCI card (not shown in FIG. 1),which is installed in a PCI slot of the workstation 1, and is used toallow for checking of an editing result in the form of an HDTV image.

Three PCI cards are installed in the PCI slots of the workstation 1.FIG. 2 is a schematic view illustrating the three PCI cards 8, 14, and16.

The PCI card 8 is used to input/output HDTV data and to decodeHDCAM-format HDTV video data (hereinafter referred to as “HD compresseddata”). The PCI card 8 has a PCI connector 13 for connection with aboard (hereinafter referred to as a “motherboard”), which has PCI slots,in the computer, and has a securing-mechanism component 12 for securingthe computer with a screw.

The PCI card 8 further has connectors for directly inputting/outputtinga signal from/to an external unit without a computer therebetween.Specifically, these connectors may be an input connector 9 for areference-signal, an input connector 10 for uncompressed HDTV data, andan output connector 11 for decompressed HDTV data. The HDTV monitor 101shown in FIG. 1 is connected to the output connector 11 of the PCI card8.

The PCI card 14 is used mainly to input/output HDTV data, to decode HDcompressed data, and to perform edit-processing on HDTV data. The PCIcard 14 also has a PCI connector 25 (shown in FIG. 3, but not shown inFIG. 2) and a securing mechanism component, which are the same as thoseof the PCI card 8.

The PCI card 16 is used to input/output SDTV (standard-definitiontelevision) data. The PCI card 16 also has a PCI connector 40 (shown inFIG. 3, but not shown in FIG. 2) and a securing mechanism component,which are the same as those of the PCI card 8.

The PCI card 16 further has connectors for directly inputting/outputtinga signal from/to an external unit without a computer therebetween.Specifically, these connectors may be an input connector 18 for areference signal, an input connector 19 for uncompressed SDTV data, andan output connector 20 for decompressed SDTV data.

The PCI cards 8 and 14 have respective connectors 24 and 29 (shown inFIG. 3, but not shown in FIG. 2) for transferring HDTV data therebetweenand are interconnected via a cable 15.

The PCI cards 8 and 16 have respective ports 33 and 38 (shown in FIG. 3,but not shown in FIG. 2) for transferring SDTV data therebetween and areinterconnected via a cable 17.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the circuit configuration of thePCI cards 8, 14, and 16. The PCI card 8 includes a compressed-datacontroller 21, a decoder 22, a decompressed-data controller 23, a clockgeneration circuit 30, an encoder 31, and a CPU 32 for controlling theindividual blocks of the PCI card 8.

The compressed-data controller 21 is a circuit for controlling the PCIbus in the workstation 1 and for controlling the input/output of HDcompressed data via the PCI connector 13 shown in FIG. 2. HD compresseddata input to the compressed-data controller 21 is sent to the decoder22.

The decoder 22 is a circuit for decoding (decompressing) the HDcompressed data into decompressed HDTV video data. The HDTV video datadecoded by the decoder 22 is sent to the decompressed-data controller23.

The decompressed-data controller 23 is a circuit for controlling theinput/output of HDTV data via the input connector 10 and the outputconnector 11 (also shown in FIG. 2) and via the connector 24 (forsending/receiving HDTV data to/from the PCI card 14) and for controllingthe input/output of SDTV data via the port 33 (for sending/receivingSDTV data to/from the PCI card 16). Further, the decompressed-datacontroller 23 includes a converter 103 for converting a signaling systembetween HDTV data and SDTV data.

The clock generation circuit 30 generates a clock signal based on areference signal input from the input connector 9, which is also shownin FIG. 2, and supplies the clock signal to the individual blocks of thePCI card 8.

The encoder 31 is a circuit for encoding (compressing) decompressed HDTVvideo data, sent from the decompressed-data controller 23, into data inthe HDCAM format. The encoder 31 then sends the encoded HDTV video data(HD compressed data) to the compressed-data controller 21.

The PCI card 14 includes a decoder 26, an effector 27, and a controller28, a CPU 34 for controlling the individual blocks of the PCI card 14,and a clock generation circuit 100.

Similarly to the decoder 22 of the PCI card 8, the decoder 26 is acircuit for decoding HD compressed data into decompressed HDTV videodata. While not illustrated, the decoders 22 and 26 may be provided onthe same board.

The effector 27 is a circuit for applying a special effect todecompressed HDTV video data.

The controller 28 is a circuit for controlling the input/output of HDcompressed data via the PCI connector 25 and for sending/receiving HDTVvideo data to/from the decoder 26, the effector 27, and the connector29.

The PCI card 16 includes a video processing controller 39. The videoprocessing controller 39 is a circuit for controlling the input/outputof uncompressed SDTV data via the PCI connector 40, the input connector19, the output connector 20, and the port 38 (for sending/receivinguncompressed SDTV data to/from the PCI card 8).

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the circuit configuration of thecontroller 28 of the PCI card 14. The controller 28 is connected to amemory 41 (e.g., SDRAM or SRAM), which has a capacity of several hundredmegabytes, for temporarily storing HDTV video data. The controller 28includes a memory controller 42 for controlling the memory 41, aninput/output (I/O) ports 43, 44, and 48, a DMA (direct memory access)controller 46, a FIFO (first in, first out) circuit 47, acolor-correction/key-generation circuit 49, a combining circuit 50 (alsoshown in FIG. 3), an interface (I/F) 52, and a dual-port RAM 53.

The input/output port 43 is used for transferring decompressed HDTVvideo data between the connector 29 and the memory controller 42.

The input/output port 44 is used to transfer HD compressed data from thememory controller 42 to the decoder 26 and to transfer decompressed HDTVvideo data from the decoder 26 to the memory controller 42.

The input/output port 48 is used to transfer decompressed HDTV videodata from the color-correction/key-generation circuit 49 to the effector27 and to transfer HDTV video data from the effector 27 to the memorycontroller 42.

The interface 52 is an interface between the CPU 34 and the individualblocks in the controller 28 (connection lines that provide connectionsbetween the interface 52 and the individual blocks other than the memorycontroller 42, the FIFO circuit 47, and the dual-port RAM 53 are notshown).

The DMA controller 46 serves to transfer HD compressed data input viathe PCI connector 25 to the memory controller 42 and to write an effectparameter input via the PCI connector 25 to the dual-port RAM 53.

The FIFO circuit 47 is a buffer for sending a command input via the PCIconnector 25 to the CPU 34 and for outputting a status, sent from theCPU 34, via the PCI connector 25.

With respect to decompressed HDTV video data sent from the memorycontroller 42, the color-correction/key-generation circuit 49 performscolor correction processing, luminance-key generation processing forgenerating a key signal (a signal indicating a transparency) from abrightness signal, and chroma-key generation processing for generating akey signal from a specific chrominance component.

In accordance with the key signal, the combining circuit 50 combines twopieces of decompressed HDTV video data sent from the memory controller42. The HDTV video data combined by the combining circuit 50 is sentback to the memory controller 42.

The dual-port RAM 53 is used to allow a CPU 37 in the effector 27 toread an effect parameter written by the DMA controller 46 and to allowthe CPUs 34 and 37 to write/read various types of information to betransferred therebetween.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating the circuit configuration of theeffector 27 of the PCI card 14. As also shown in FIG. 3, the effector 27includes a memory control block 35, a read-address generation block 36,and the CPU 37 for controlling these blocks 35 and 36.

The memory control block 35 is connected to an external frame memory 55.The memory control block 35 includes amemory-controlling/filter-processing circuit 54 and anaddress/key-signal generation circuit 56.

The memory-controlling/filter-processing circuit 54 controls theexternal frame memory 55 and performs anti-aliasing by filterprocessing.

The address/key-signal generation circuit 56 supplies a write or readaddress for each piece of one-pixel data to thememory-controlling/filter-processing circuit 54, and also generates akey signal indicating a boundary (e.g., a round frame that emerges outof the current scene while showing the next scene and that graduallyincreases in size) during a scene change and supplies the generated keysignal to the memory-controlling/filter-processing circuit 54.

The read-address generation block 36 is connected to an external memory57. Based on the type of special effect and an effect parameter selectedand set with the above-described special-effect selection button, whichis displayed by the editing application software installed on theworkstation 1, the read-address generation block 36 performscalculations, such as addition, multiplication, and an conversioncalculation for polar coordinates in the Cartesian coordinate system,while sending/receiving data to/from the external memory 57 at a speedof 100 MHz or more. Consequently, the read-address generation block 36generates a read address (X′, Y′) for each piece of one-pixel data.

When decompressed HDTV video data for one frame is sent from thecontroller 28 to the effector 27 via the input/output port 48 (FIG. 4),the HDTV video data is sequentially written to the external frame memory55 via the memory-controlling/filter-processing circuit 54 in accordancewith a write address (X, Y) sent from the address/key-signal generationcircuit 56.

Then, the read address (X′, Y′) generated by the read-address generationblock 36 is sent to the address/key-signal generation circuit 56 in thememory control block 35. In accordance with the read address (X′, Y′),the HDTV video data is sequentially read from the external frame memory55 via the memory-controlling/filter-processing circuit 54 and issubjected to image-modification processing.

The HDTV video data read from the external frame memory 55 is sent fromthe memory-controlling/filter-processing circuit 54 to the input/outputport 48 in the controller 28.

In this manner, the effector 27 performs processing on HDTV video datafor each frame which is sent from the controller 28, so that a specialeffect, such as causing a scene to disappear in a page-turning manner,is applied to the HDTV video data.

In Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication Nos. 2000-122772,7-059002, and 6-303512 to 303516, the assignee of the present inventionhas disclosed apparatuses, such as the effector 27, and methods forapplying a special effect. In those publications, the circuitconfigurations, operations, and the like of blocks corresponding to, forexample, the read-address generation block 36 are described in detail.

An edit processing operation of this editing system in the presentinvention will now be described.

[Operation for Transferring and Decoding Material]

First, a description is given of an operation for transferring anddecoding material based on the operation of the above-described materialselection button on the operation screen displayed by the editingapplication software installed on the workstation 1.

When material A (material to be subjected to a special effect) andmaterial B (material to be combined with material A) are selected withthe material selection button, HD compressed data selected as material Aand HD compressed data selected as material B are transferred for eachframe, in each time period for one HDTV frame, in parallel to thecorresponding PCI cards 14 and 8 (FIG. 3) via the PCI bus.

In the PCI card 8, the transferred HD compressed data for each frame isinput to the compressed-data controller 21 via the PCI connector 13. TheHD compressed data is then sent from the compressed-data controller 21to the decoder 22 and is decoded thereby within a time period for apredetermined number of frames (e.g., two frames) The HDTV video datadecoded by the decoder 22 is sent, within a time period for apredetermined number of frames (e.g., one frame), from the decoder 22 tothe decompressed-data controller 23 and is then sent from thedecompressed-data controller 23 to the PCI card 14 via the connector 24.

In the PCI card 14, the HDTV video data sent from the PCI card 8 isinput to the controller 28 via the connector 29 and is temporarilystored in the memory 41 (FIG. 4) via the input/output port 43 and thememory controller 42 (FIG. 4).

On the other hand, in the PCI card 14, the HD compressed data for eachframe which is transferred from the workstation 1 via the PCI bus isinput to the controller 28 via the PCI connector 25.

The HD compressed data is temporarily stored in the memory 41 via theDMA controller 46 (FIG. 4) and the memory controller 42 (FIG. 4), andthen the HD compressed data is sent from the memory 41 to the decoder 26(FIG. 4) via the memory controller 42 and the input/output port 44 (FIG.4). The data is decoded by the decoder 26 within a time period for apredetermined number of frames (e.g., two frames) and the resulting datais temporarily stored in the memory 41 via the input/output port 44 andthe memory controller 42.

[Operation for Special Effect]

An operation for a special effect based on the operation of theabove-described special-effect selection button on the operation screendisplayed by the editing application software will now be described inconnection with the controlling of the PCI card 14 and the CPU 34.

When the selection of a type of special effect and the setting of aneffect parameter are performed with the special-effect selection button,an effect starting command is sent from the workstation 1 to the PCIcard 14 via the PCI bus and also the set effect parameter is stored in amemory on the motherboard in the workstation 1.

In the PCI card 14, the effect starting command is input to thecontroller 28 via the PCI connector 25. In the controller 28, the effectstarting command is sent to the CPU 34 via the FIFO circuit 47 (FIG. 4)and the interface 52 (FIG. 4).

Upon receiving the effect starting command, the CPU 34 causes the effectparameter stored in the memory on the motherboard in the workstation 1to be input to the controller 28 via the PCI connector 25 and causes theDMA controller 46 (FIG. 4) to write the input effect parameter to thedual-port RAM 53 (FIG. 4).

Subsequently, the CPU 34 writes a calculation starting instruction,addressed to the CPU 37 in the effector 27, to the dual-port RAM 53.

The CPU 37 in the effector 27 reads the calculation starting instructionfrom the dual-pqrt RAM 53. The CPU 37 then reads the effect parameterfrom the dual-port RAM 53, and causes the read-address generation block36 to calculate a read address of data for each pixel by using theeffect parameter.

When the read-address generation block 36 completes the calculation, theCPU 37 writes to the dual-port RAM 53 a status which is addressed to theCPU 34 and which indicates that the HDTV data can be received.

Upon reading the status from the dual-port RAM 53, and the CPU 34 causesthe HDTV video data (material A), decoded by the decoder 26 andtemporarily stored in the memory 41, to be sent to thecolor-correction/key-generation circuit 49 (FIG. 4) via the memorycontroller 42.

The color-correction/key-generation circuit 49 processes the HDTV videodata. The CPU 34 then causes the processed HDTV video data to be sent tothe memory control block 35 in the effector 27 via the input/output port48 (FIG. 4).

In the memory control block 35 in the effector 27, the HDTV video datais written to the external frame memory 55 (FIG. 5). The HDTV video datais then read from the external frame memory 55 in accordance with theread address computed by the read-address generation block 36 and issent to the input/output port 48 of the controller 28.

The effector 27 also performs the above-described processing perone-frame HDTV data within a time period for a predetermined number offrames (e.g., one frame).

The CPU 34 causes the memory controller 42 to temporarily store the HDTVvideo data, sent from the effector 27 to the input/output port 48, inthe memory 41.

[Flow of Overall Edit Processing Operation]

A description is now given of the flow of an overall edit processingoperation when the above-described material selection button, thespecial effect selection button, and the editing-result output selectionbutton are respectively operated and an operation for giving aninstruction for starting edit processing is performed on the operationscreen displayed by the editing application software.

FIG. 6 is a timing chart showing the flow of an overall edit processingoperation for material of each frame when a result of edit processing isselected with the editing-result output selection button so as to bedisplayed on the HDTV monitor 101. The left-hand side in FIG. 6 showsthe operation of the PCI card 8 and the right-hand side shows theoperation of the PCI card 14.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the flow of materials within the PCIcards 8 and 14 during the edit processing operation shown in FIG. 6. Thelong dashed double-short dashed line indicates the flow of material A,the dashed-dotted line indicates the flow of material B, and the dottedline indicates the flow of material after materials A and B arecombined.

As described in the “Operation of Transferring and Decoding Material”,HD compressed data selected as materials B and A with the materialselection button are transferred for each frame, in each time period forone HDTV frame, in parallel from the workstation 1 to the correspondingPCI cards 8 and 14 via the PCI bus (in steps S1 and S11 shown in FIG.6).

In the PCI cards 8 and 14, the transmitted HD compressed data for oneframe are decoded in parallel by the corresponding decoders 22 and 26within a time period for a predetermined number of frames (e.g., twoframes) (in steps S2 and S12 in FIG. 6).

The HDTV video data decoded by the decoder 22 is sent from the PCI card8 to the PCI card 14 within a time period for a predetermined number offrames (e.g., one frame) (in step S3 in FIG. 6).

Within the same time period, the PCI card 14 receives the HDTV videodata sent from the PCI card 8. Further, as described in the “Operationfor Special Effect”, the color-correction/key-generation circuit 49 inthe controller 28 processes the HDTV video data decoded by the decoder26 (in step S13 shown in FIG. 6).

Subsequently, as described in the “Operation for Special Effect”, in thePCI card 14, with a time period for a predetermined number of frames(e.g., one frame), the effector 27 performs special-effect processing onthe HDTV video data processed by the color-correction/key-generationcircuit 49 (in step S14 shown in FIG. 6).

Thereafter, in the PCI card 14, within a time period for a predeterminednumber of frames (e.g., one frame), the HDTV video data processed by theeffector 27 and the HDTV video data received from the PCI card 8 in stepS13 are combined by the combining circuit 50 in the controller 28 (instep S15 shown in FIG. 6).

In step S15, specifically, the HDTV video data sent from the effector 27to the controller 28 and temporarily stored in the memory 41 (FIG. 4),as described in the “Operation for Special Effect”, and the HDTV videodata sent from the PCI card 8 and temporarily stored in the memory 41,as described in the “Operation for Transferring and Decoding Material”,are sent to the combining circuit 50 (FIGS. 3 and 4) via the memorycontroller 42 (FIG. 4) and are combined by the combining circuit 50. Thecombined data is then temporarily stored in the memory 41 via the memorycontroller 42.

Subsequently, the combined HDTV video data (a result of edit processing)temporarily stored in the memory 41 is output, with a time period for apredetermined number of frames (e.g., one frame), from the controller 28via the memory controller 42 and the input/output port 43 (FIG. 4) andis further sent from the PCI card 14 to the PCI card 8 via the connector29 (in step S16 shown in FIG. 6).

In the PCI card 8, the HDTV data sent from the PCI card 14 is input tothe decompressed-data controller 23 via the connector 24 (in step S4shown in FIG. 6).

In the PCI card 8, within a time period for a predetermined number offrames (e.g., one frame), the HDTV data is output from decompressed-datacontroller 23 to the HDTV monitor 101 (FIG. 1) via the connector 11 (instep S5 shown in FIG. 6).

FIG. 8 is a timing chart showing the flow of an overall edit processingoperation for material of each frame when a result of edit processing isselected with the editing-result output selection button so as to bestored in the storage device 2. The left-hand side in FIG. 8 shows theoperation of the PCI card 8 and the right-hand side shows the operationof the PCI card 14.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the flow of materials within the PCIcards 8 and 14 during the edit processing operation shown in FIG. 8. Thelong dashed double-short dashed line indicates the flow of material A,the dashed-dotted line indicates the flow of material B, and the dottedline indicates the flow of material after materials A and B arecombined.

In FIG. 8, since the processes from steps S1 to S4 for the PCI card 8and the processes from steps S11 to S16 for the PCI card 14 are the sameas those indicated by the same step numbers in FIG. 6, the redundantdescriptions are omitted.

In the PCI card 8, subsequent to step S4, the combined HDTV video datatransmitted from the PCI card 14 is sent from the decompressed-datacontroller 23 to the encoder 31 and is encoded within a time period fora predetermined number of frames (e.g., two frames) (in step S21).

In the PCI card 8, the encoded HDTV video data (HD compressed data) issent from the encoder 31 to the compressed-data controller 21 within atime period for a predetermined number of frames (e.g., one frame) andis transferred from the PCI connector 13 to the workstation 1 via thePCI bus (in step S22).

At the workstation 1, the HD compressed data transferred from the PCIcard 8 is stored in the storage device 2.

FIG. 10 is a timing chart showing the flow of an overall edit processingoperation for material of each frame when a result of edit processing isselected with the editing-result output selection button so as to bedisplayed on the VGA monitor 5 or 6. The left-hand side in FIG. 10 showsthe operation of the PCI card 8, the upper right side shows theoperation of the PCI card 14, and the lower right side shows theoperation of the PCI card 16.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the flow of materials within the PCIcards 8, 14, and 16 during the edit processing operation shown in FIG.10. The long dashed double-short dashed line indicates the flow ofmaterial A, the dashed-dotted line indicates the flow of material B, andthe dotted line indicates the flow of material after materials A and Bare combined.

In FIG. 10, since the processes from steps S1 to S4 for the PCI card 8and the processes from steps S11 to S16 for the PCI card 14 are the sameas those indicated by the same step numbers in FIG. 6, the redundantdescriptions are omitted.

In the PCI card 8, subsequent to step S4, within a time period for apredetermined number of frames, the combined HDTV video data sent fromthe PCI card 14 is converted by the converter 103 in thedecompressed-data controller 23 into SDTV video data (in step 31).

In the PCI card 8, within a time period for a predetermined number offrames, the SDTV video data is sent from the decompressed-datacontroller 23 to the PCI card 16 via the port 33 (in step S32).

In the PCI card 16, the SDTV video data sent from the PCI card 8 isinput to the video processing controller 39 via the port 38 (in stepS41).

In the PCI card 8, within a time period for a predetermined number offrames, the SDTV video data is transferred from the PCI connector 40 tothe workstation 1 via the PCI bus (in step S42).

At the workstation 1, the SDTV data transferred from the PCI card 16 isdisplayed on the VGA monitor 5 or 6.

As described above, HD compressed data for one frame are transferred, ineach time period for one frame, from the workstation 1 to the PCI cards8 and 14, and the transferred HD compressed data for each frame aresequentially subjected to the edit processing (shown in FIGS. 6, 8, or10) that is performed by the PCI cards 8 and 14 or the PCI cards 8, 14,and 16. Thus, edit processing involving a special-effect-applied scenechange (e.g., a scene change in which the scene of material A changesinto the scene of material B while disappearing in a page-turningmanner) is performed in real time.

A description will now be given of an editing process in which anoperator edits material using the editing system. When an operatoroperates the material selection button, the special-effect selectionbutton, and the editing-result output selection button on the operationscreen and performs an operation for giving an instruction for startingedit processing, HD compressed data selected as material A (material tobe subjected to a special effect) and material B (material to becombined with material A) with the material selection button aresequentially transferred for each frame in parallel from the workstation1 to the PCI cards 14 and 18 via the PCI bus (in steps S1 and S11 inFIGS. 6, 8, and 10). The transferred HD compressed data are decoded inparallel by the corresponding decoders 26 and 22 (in steps S2 and S12 inFIGS. 6, 8, and 10).

The HDTV video data for each frame which has been decoded by the decoder26 is sequentially subjected to a special effect by the effector 27. TheHDTV video data for each frame which has been subjected to a specialeffect and HDTV video data for each frame decoded by the decoder 22 aresequentially combined by the combining circuit 50 in the controller 28(in steps S14 to S16 in FIGS. 6, 8, and 10). As a result, material A andmaterial B are subjected to the edit processing in real time.

When a result of edit processing is selected with the editing-resultoutput selection button so as to be displayed on the HDTV monitor 101,the result is output from the PCI card 8 to the HDTV monitor 101 (instep S5 in FIG. 6) and is displayed on the HDTV monitor 101.

When a result of edit processing is selected with the editing-resultoutput selection button so as to be stored in the storage device 2, theresult is transferred as HD compressed data from the PCI card 8 to theworkstation 1 (in steps S21 and S22 in FIG. 8) and is stored in thestorage device 2 by the workstation 1.

When a result of edit processing is selected with the editing-resultoutput selection button so as be displayed on the VGA monitor 5 or 6,the result is transferred as SDTV data from the PCI card 14 to theworkstation 1 via the PCI card 16 (in steps S31, S32, S41, and S42 inFIG. 10) and is displayed on the VGA monitor 5 or 6 by the workstation1.

As described above, in this editing system, HDTV data compressed in theHDCAM format is stored in the storage device 2 as material.Subsequently, two pieces of material (compressed HDTV video data)selected, as material to be edited, from the stored material aretransferred in parallel from the workstation 1 to the PCI cards 8 and 14installed in the workstation 1. The two pieces of material are decodedin parallel by the PCI cards 8 and 14 and are subjected to editprocessing.

In this manner, regardless of a limited bandpass of the PCI bus, twopieces of HDTV data can be transferred in parallel from the workstation1 to the PCI cards 8 and 14 so as to be subjected to edit processing.Thus, an HDTV signal can be edited in real time without use of dedicatedlarge hardware other than the workstation 1.

Further, edit processing involving a special-effect-applied scene changecan be performed in real time.

In addition, a result of edit processing can be displayed as an HDTVimage on the HDTV monitor 101 so as to be checked in real time, can bestored in the storage device 2 as compressed HDTV video data, and can bedisplayed on the VGA monitor 5 or 6 connected to the workstation 1 so asto be checked in real time.

Additionally, since the PCI card 8 has the HD input connector 10, thedecompressed-data controller 23 in the PCI card 8 can be configured toselect either HDTV data input from the input connector 10 or HDTV datadecoded by the decoder 22 (for example, this selection may be done onthe operation screen displayed by the editing application software) andto send the selected HDTV data to the PCI card 14 via the connector 24.

Thus, not only can HD compressed data stored in the storage device 2 betransferred as material B from the workstation 1 to the PCI card 8, butalso uncompressed HDTV. data can be directly input as material B from anexternal unit to the PCI card 8 directly so as to be subjected to editprocessing.

In the above described example, the effector 27 for applying a specialeffect is provided in the PCI card 14 to perform edit processing for aspecial-effect-applied scene change. The present invention, however, isnot limited to this configuration. For example, appropriate editprocessing (e.g., A/B roll editing) may be performed in the PCI card 14.

In the above-described example, two pieces of HDTV video data compressedin the HDCAM format are transferred in parallel to the PCI cards 8 and14 and are decoded in parallel by the PCI cards 8 and 14. The presentinvention, however, is not limited to this configuration. For example,two pieces of HDTV video data compressed in a format other than theHDCAM format may be transferred in parallel to the PCI cards 8 and 14and be decoded in parallel by the PCI cards 8 and 14. That is, insteadof the decoders 22 and 26 and the encoder 31, decoders and an encoderfor that format may be provided.

In the above-described example, three PCI cards, i.e., the PCI cards 8,14, and 16, are installed in the workstation 1. However, as analternative, a single PCI card manufactured to have both functions ofthe PCI cards 8 and 14 may be installed in the workstation 1, instead ofthe PCI cards 8 and 14.

Alternatively, a single PCI card manufactured to have all the functionsof the PCI cards 8, 14, and 16 may be installed in the workstation 1,instead of the PCI cards 8, 14, and 16.

In the above-described example, two pieces of HD compressed data aretransferred in parallel from the workstation 1 to the PCI cards and aredecoded in parallel by the PCI cards so as to be subjected to editprocessing. The present invention, however, is not limited to thisexample. For example, a device other than the PCI cards may be installedin the workstation 1 such that the two pieces of HD compressed data aretransferred in parallel from the workstation 1 to the device and aredecoded in parallel by the device so as to be subjected to editprocessing.

In the above-described example, the workstation is used for thenonlinear editor, material (HD compressed data) is stored in the storagedevice and material is transferred from the VTR. The present invention,however, is not limited to this example. For example, a personalcomputer may be used for the nonlinear editor, material may be stored ona hard disk built into the computer, and material may be transferredfrom a video camera or a video server.

Additionally, the present invention is not limited to theabove-described examples, and can take various other forms withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

1. An editing device to edit a high-definition television signal, theediting device comprising: a first decoder and a second decoder whichdecompress respective compressed high-definition television video datatransferred from the computer; and edit processing means for performingedit processing on the high-definition television video datadecompressed by the first decoder and the high-definition televisionvideo data decompressed by the second decoder, a result of editprocessing performed by the edit processing means being output, whereinthe edit processing means comprises: an effector for applying a specialeffect to the high-definition television video data decompressed by thefirst decoder, wherein the high-definition television video datadecompressed by the first decoder and the high-definition televisionvideo data decompressed by the second decoder for one frame, aretransferred, in each time period for one frame, in parallel to a firstPCI card and a second PCI card, respectively, wherein the editprocessing means and first decoder are contained on the first PCI card,and the second decoder is contained on the second PCI card, the firstPCI card being directly connected to the second PCI card, and whereinthe first PCI card and the second PCI card have PCI connectors forconnecting with a motherboard of the computer by the PCI connectors, andare installed in PCI slots of the computer; and selection means forselecting a type of special effect and inputting an effect parameter,wherein, when the type of special effect is selected and the effectparameter is input via special effect selection button on an operationscreen of the computer: an effect starting command is sent to the firstPCI card from the computer; the effect parameter is stored in a memoryof the computer; the effect starting command is then sent to the editprocessing means from the first PCI card; the edit processing means thensends the effect starting command to a central processing unit of thecomputer; the central processing unit causes the effect parameter thatis stored in the memory of the computer to be sent to the editprocessing means; the edit processing unit writes the effect parameterto a memory of the edit processing unit; the central processing unitwrites a calculation starting instruction to the memory of the editprocessing unit; the effector reads the calculation starting instructionand reads the effect parameter from the memory of the edit processingunit and calculates a read address of data for each pixel using theeffect parameter; the effector then changes a status in the memory ofthe effector indicating that the high-definition television video datadecompressed by the first decoder is able to be received; the centralprocessing unit then reads the status in the memory of the effector andcauses the high-definition television video data decompressed by thefirst decoder to be sent to the effector; the effector performsprocessing per one frame of the high-definition television video datadecompressed by the first decoder within a time period for apredetermined number of frames.
 2. The editing device according to claim1, wherein the edit processing means comprises: combining means forcombining the high-definition television video data to which the specialeffect is applied by the effector and the high-definition televisionvideo data decompressed by the second decoder.
 3. The editing deviceaccording to claim 1, further comprising: an output connector forhigh-definition television data, wherein the result of edit processingperformed by the edit processing means is output from the outputconnector.
 4. The editing device according to claim 1, furthercomprising: an encoder for compressing the high-definition televisionvideo data on which the edit processing is performed by the editprocessing means, wherein the high-definition television video datacompressed by the encoder is transferred to the computer.
 5. The editingdevice according to claim 1, further comprising: converting means forconverting the high-definition television video data on which the editprocessing is performed by the edit processing means intostandard-definition television video data, wherein thestandard-definition television video data converted by the convertingmeans is transferred to the computer.
 6. The editing device according toclaim 1, further comprising: an input connector for uncompressedhigh-definition television data; and selecting means for selecting oneof high-definition television video data input from the input connectorand the high-definition television video data decompressed by the firstdecoder and for supplying the selected high-definition television datato the edit processing means, wherein the edit processing means performsedit processing on the high-definition television video data selected bythe selecting means and the high-definition television video datadecompressed by the second decoder.
 7. The editing device according toclaim 1, wherein the editing device comprises at least one peripheralcomponent interconnect card.
 8. An editing apparatus for ahigh-definition television signal, the editing apparatus comprising: acomputer for transferring compressed first high-definition televisionvideo data and compressed second high-definition television video data;and an editing device that includes a first decoder and a second decoderwhich decompress the compressed first and second high-definitiontelevision video data, respectively, and edit processing means forperforming edit processing on the decompressed first high-definitiontelevision video data and the decompressed second high-definitiontelevision video data, a result of edit processing performed by the editprocessing means being output, wherein the editing device comprises: aneffector for applying a special effect to the high-definition televisionvideo data decompressed by the first decoder, wherein the compressedfirst high-definition television video data and the compressed secondhigh-definition television video data for one frame, are transferred, ineach time period for one frame, in parallel from the computer to a firstPCI card and a second PCI card, respectively, wherein the editprocessing means and first decoder are contained on the first PCI card,and the second decoder is contained on the second PCI card, the firstPCI card being directly connected to the second PCI card, and whereinthe first PCI card and the second PCI card have PCI connectors forconnecting with a motherboard of the computer by the PCI connectors, andare installed in PCI slots of the computer; and a selection unit forselecting a type of special effect and inputting an effect parameter,wherein, when the type of special effect is selected and the effectparameter is input via special effect selection button on an operationscreen of the computer: an effect starting command is sent to the firstPCI card from the computer; the effect parameter is stored in a memoryof the computer; the effect starting command is then sent to the editprocessing means from the first PCI card; the edit processing means thensends the effect starting command to a central processing unit of thecomputer; the central processing unit causes the effect parameter thatis stored in the memory of the computer to be sent to the editprocessing means; the edit processing unit writes the effect parameterto a memory of the edit processing unit; the central processing unitwrites a calculation starting instruction to the memory of the editprocessing unit; the effector reads the calculation starting instructionand reads the effect parameter from the memory of the edit processingunit and calculates a read address of data for each pixel using theeffect parameter; the effector then changes a status in the memory ofthe effector indicating that the high-definition television video datadecompressed by the first decoder is able to be received; the centralprocessing unit then reads the status in the memory of the effector andcauses the high-definition television video data decompressed by thefirst decoder to be sent to the effector; the effector performsprocessing per one frame of the high-definition television video datadecompressed by the first decoder within a time period for apredetermined number of frames.
 9. The editing apparatus according toclaim 8, wherein the edit processing means comprises: combining meansfor combining the high-definition television video data to which thespecial effect is applied by the effector and the high-definitiontelevision video data decompressed by the second decoder.
 10. Theediting apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the editing devicefurther comprises: an output connector for high-definition televisiondata, the result of edit processing performed by the edit processingmeans being output from the output connector.
 11. The editing apparatusaccording to claim 8, wherein the editing device further comprises: anencoder for compressing the high-definition television video data onwhich the edit processing is performed by the edit processing mean, thehigh-definition television video data compressed by the encoder beingtransferred to the computer.
 12. The editing apparatus according toclaim 8, wherein the editing device further comprises: converting meansfor converting the high-definition television video data on which theedit processing is performed by the edit processing means intostandard-definition television video data, the standard-definitiontelevision video data converted by the converting means beingtransferred to the computer.
 13. The editing apparatus according toclaim 8, wherein the editing device further comprises: an inputconnector for uncompressed high-definition television data; andselecting means for selecting one of high-definition television datainput from the input connector and the high-definition television videodata decompressed by the first decoder and for supplying the selectedhigh-definition television data to the edit processing means, andwherein the edit processing means performs edit processing on thehigh-definition television video data selected by the selecting meansand the high-definition television video data decompressed by the seconddecoder.
 14. The editing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein theediting device comprises at least one peripheral component interconnectcard.
 15. An editing method for editing a high-definition televisionsignal using a computer, the editing method comprising: a transferringstep of transferring compressed first high-definition television videodata and compressed second high-definition television video data for oneframe, in each time period for one frame, in parallel from the computerto a first PCI card and a second PCI card, respectively; a decompressingstep of decompressing, in the editing device, the compressed firsthigh-definition television video data and the compressed secondhigh-definition television video data which are transferred in thetransferring step; an editing step of performing, in the editing device,edit processing on the first high-definition television video data andthe second high-definition television video data which are decompressedin the decompressing step, wherein the editing step comprises: anapplying step for applying a special effect to the high-definitiontelevision video data decompressed by the first decoder; and anoutputting step of outputting a result of edit processing performed inthe editing step from the editing device, wherein the editing step andthe decompressing of the compressed first high-definition televisionvideo data occur on the first PCI card, and the decompressing of thesecond high-definition television video data occurs on the second PCIcard, the first PCI card being directly connected to the second PCIcard, and wherein the first PCI card and the second PCI card have PCIconnectors for connecting with a motherboard of the computer by the PCIconnectors, and are installed in PCI slots of the computer; and aselection step for selecting a type of special effect and inputting aneffect parameter, wherein, when the type of special effect is selectedand the effect parameter is input via special effect selection button onan operation screen of the computer: an effect starting command is sentto the first PCI card from the computer; the effect parameter is storedin a memory of the computer; the effect starting command is then sent tothe edit processing means from the first PCI card; the edit processingmeans then sends the effect starting command to a central processingunit of the computer; the central processing unit causes the effectparameter that is stored in the memory of the computer to be sent to theedit processing means; the edit processing unit writes the effectparameter to a memory of the edit processing unit, the centralprocessing unit writes a calculation starting instruction to the memoryof the edit processing unit; the effector reads the calculation startinginstruction and reads the effect parameter from the memory of the editprocessing unit and calculates a read address of data for each pixelusing the effect parameter; the effector then changes a status in thememory of the effector indicating that the high-definition televisionvideo data decompressed by the first decoder is able to be received; thecentral processing unit then reads the status in the memory of theeffector and causes the high-definition television video datadecompressed by the first decoder to be sent to the effector; theeffector performs processing per one frame of the high-definitiontelevision video data decompressed by the first decoder within a timeperiod for a predetermined number of frames.
 16. The editing methodaccording to claim 15, wherein, in the editing step, a special effect isapplied to the first high-definition television video data, and thefirst high-definition television video data to which the special effectis applied and the second high-definition television video data arecombined.
 17. The editing method according to claim 15, wherein, in theoutputting step, the result of edit processing performed in the editingstep is output from a high-definition television signal output-connectorprovided at the editing device.
 18. The editing method according toclaim 15, further comprising: a compressing step of compressing, in theediting device, the high-definition television video data on which theedit processing is performed in the editing step, wherein, in theoutputting step, the high-definition television video data compressed inthe compressing step is transferred to the computer.
 19. The editingmethod according to claim 15, further comprising: a converting step ofconverting, in the editing device, the high-definition television videodata on which the edit processing is performed in the editing step intostandard-definition television video data, wherein, in the outputtingstep, the standard-definition television video data converted in theconverting step is transferred to the computer.
 20. The editing methodaccording to claim 15, further comprising: a selecting step ofselecting, in the editing device, one of high-definition televisionvideo data input from an uncompressed high-definition television datainput-connector provided at the editing device and the firsthigh-definition television video data decompressed in the decompressingstep, wherein, in the editing step, the high-definition television videodata selected in the selecting step and the second high-definitiontelevision video data are subjected to edit processing.
 21. The editingmethod according to claim 15, wherein the editing device comprises atleast one peripheral component interconnect card.